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Month: December 2016

I’ve always watched the evening news, listened to San Francisco talk radio, listened to NPR, watched NPR, listened to strange radio talk shows while I fall asleep at night, so, well, I guess I am not media challenged. But I got worse during the election and even worse afterwards. I am downright obsessed. What is my sub-conscious seeking? I’ve heard of people’s obsessions with twitter and the like, but now I’ve fallen. Hard. I delight in goggling one thing after another, pertaining to anybody connected to the elections, the recount and the scandals coming from Washington D.C. and Manhattan, two places that are really low on my vacation list. It must send dopamine and/or serotonin into my blood stream. When I hit on something juicy, I get this rush. I take a deep breath, put the phone down, drawing satisfaction, knowing that after I get some work done, I can curl up with my phone and relish something new. It’s crazy and out of control. I am just another helpless American watching this all unfold. (And refold and crumple and get smashed on.) But there is good news. My understanding of how the media works has grown. (Columnists copy the other guy so often, it’s like they use a clone stamp.) Eventually, things will settle down. They will have to, because sooner or later, we all gotta get back to work.

Suellen Ocean is the author of many books on diverse topics. Her books are available here: